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England's Fin Smith in race against time to face Australia / Photo: PHILL MAGAKOE - AFP
England's Fin Smith in race against time to face Australia
England are sweating on the fitness of fly-half Fin Smith to face Australia in their November opener, but fellow midfielder Benhard Janse van Rensburg will play no part in the second phase of the Nations Championship.
Smith has been set a deadline of Wednesday by England coach Steve Borthwick to recover from the calf strain he suffered while playing for Northampton against Leicester in the Prem on Saturday.
Should Smith, who has established himself as England's first-choice stand-off, be ruled out then either veteran playmaker George Ford or Marcus Smith will be installed in the No 10 jersey for the Wallabies' visit to Twickenham on November 8.
"Fin has made good progress over the last couple of days and we're hopeful of his availability against Australia, but that remains unclear at this stage," Borthwick told reporters on Tuesday.
The situation with Janse van Rensburg is more clear-cut with the Bristol centre currently on an indefinite stand down from rugby after being concussed twice in his last three games, most recently when attempting a tackle on England colleague Henry Pollock against Northampton on October 3.
The South African-born back made his Test debut against Fiji in July but must now wait until the Six Nations at the earliest to win his third cap.
"Benhard has seen a specialist and been advised to take a number of weeks of non-contact work before his reintroduction to rugby over the coming weeks," said Borthwick.
Bath flanker Guy Pepper will also miss the Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand, as well as finals weekend -- which also takes place at Twickenham next month -- because of the ankle injury he sustained playing against Gloucester on Friday.
Borthwick, meanwhile, played down a clash featuring England players during a fiery East Midlands derby between Leicester and Northampton, with Tigers lock Ollie Chessum and Saints No 8 Pollock central figures in the brawl.
England’s Leicester and Northampton contingent entered camp on Sunday, just 24 hours after engaging in a giant bust-up at half-time of a stormy East Midlands derby.
"To be clear, nothing overtly illegal (happened)," said Borthwick, a former England captain.
"Do I like seeing intensity, passion, pride? Yes. Do I want the players to bring that passion and pride in an England shirt? Absolutely.
"These are young players who have grown up at their clubs and emerged as big players at their clubs. I want that in an England shirt.
"What I think is very good is that the players compete in the way they do one day and then they can come in and be great mates the next day. Ollie and Henry are great mates."
England are currently third in the European half of the Nations Championship standings, with the match against the Wallabies signalling the start of their 12-Test countdown to next year's World Cup in Australia.
"This series of games is the last opportunity we have playing southern hemisphere opposition before then," said Borthwick.
"I'm looking forward to seeing players compete and perform against this calibre of opposition."
G.Palmiero--INP
